This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Tragedy strikes our marina.
We are a small community and are extremely saddened by the loss. I did not know these people personally but it sure hits home. I will post further details when available.
The bad thing about this is that we decided not to go out on Sunday ourselves as I was still finalising the boat for the season. They were very close to were we frequent out there. Wishing we had been out there and maybre seen what happened and been there to help !!!!
Please everyone learn from this and help anyone you see in need (no matter what)

Mom, teen girl perish
Stepfather survives boating accident on Lake St. Clair
BY TREVOR WILHELM STAR STAFF REPORTER
LAKESHORE
A young girl and her mother are dead after search crews found them floating in the middle of Lake St. Clair early Monday, with no boat in sight.


The 13-year-old girl, her mother and stepfather had set out on a boat trip around 3 p.m. Sunday. Earlier that day, next door neighbour Rick Parent said the father had stopped by his house to borrow a life-jacket, wanting to make sure his family was safe on the water.


Parent said the victims? family told him, after the trio was found in the water, that their 16-foot boat sank when another larger vessel sped past and the boat was hit by a big wave. Police haven?t confirmed that.


?Another boat went by and swamped them,? said Parent, who called police when he realized the family hadn?t returned home. ?Their boat sank.?


Father treated, released


Police haven?t released the victims? names. The father was treated for hypothermia and released from hospital on Monday.


Lakeshore OPP said the family had launched from the Deerbrook Marina Sunday.


The marina is just across the narrow Ruscom River from their home on Tellier Road. Police said they went to the family?s house after a neighbour called around 1 a.m. Monday to say the three never returned.


See page 4
Stepfather survives boating accident on Lake St. Clair
BY TREVOR WILHELM STAR STAFF REPORTER
LAKESHORE
A young girl and her mother are dead after search crews found them floating in the middle of Lake St. Clair early Monday, with no boat in sight.


The 13-year-old girl, her mother and stepfather had set out on a boat trip around 3 p.m. Sunday. Earlier that day, next door neighbour Rick Parent said the father had stopped by his house to borrow a life-jacket, wanting to make sure his family was safe on the water.


Parent said the victims? family told him, after the trio was found in the water, that their 16-foot boat sank when another larger vessel sped past and the boat was hit by a big wave. Police haven?t confirmed that.

?Another boat went by and swamped them,? said Parent, who called police when he realized the family hadn?t returned home. ?Their boat sank.?


Father treated, released


Police haven?t released the victims? names. The father was treated for hypothermia and released from hospital on Monday.


Lakeshore OPP said the family had launched from the Deerbrook Marina Sunday.


The marina is just across the narrow Ruscom River from their home on Tellier Road. Police said they went to the family?s house after a neighbour called around 1 a.m. Monday to say the three never returned.


See page 4

FATEFUL TRIP: A 16-foot boat carrying a Tellier Road man, a 45-year-old woman and her 13-year old daughter, were last seen leaving this area of the Ruscom River at 3 p.m. Sunday. The boat overturned in Lake St. Clair, tossing the group overboard. The man survived, but the mishap claimed the lives of the mother and her daughter.

More at
www.windsorstar.com

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Man... No good at all... This is what happens though when people are inconsiderate boaters. For the boat to have swamped by another boat, they would have to be pretty close I would imagine... Bad for that family, bad, bad. Any idea if they knew who was the driving the other boat that caused the swamp?

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

I just linked to the original story and something doesn't seem right - the article says that the boat that swamped was 18 feet long. Unless the operator of the larger boat was very close to them, it doesn't seem like the 18 footer should have swamped.

None-the-less, a tragic story. It does sound like the victims were acting responsibly by use of PFDs, but I guess the very cold waters in the lake are pretty unforgiving.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

jay_merrill said:

I just linked to the original story and something doesn't seem right - the article says that the boat that swamped was 18 feet long. Unless the operator of the larger boat was very close to them, it doesn't seem like the 18 footer should have swamped.

None-the-less, a tragic story. It does sound like the victims were acting responsibly by use of PFDs, but I guess the very cold waters in the lake are pretty unforgiving.

Click to expand...

I agree, that sounds odd. I fish out of a 14' jon boat among wakeboarders
and big bass boats and have never came close to being anything but annoyed by their wake. Maybe the lake was already choppy or their boat was overloaded? Very sad.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Latest report this morning is that it was a 28ft cruiser (white with a beige stripe) that swamped them. They were in a 18ft aluminum. The cruiser was apparently going full tilt into Stoney Point. Police are asking the owner to come forward. I amsure they are looking around all the docks to shortlist people as well.
I will keep you posted.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Sad story for sure. Big or small, every boat is responsible for its wake. I know my boat can throw a wake that can swamp smaller boats if I don't keep an eye out for them. One should have a habit of looking back after passing another watercraft to make sure that they are okay,,,,especially low riding ones.

I witnessed at Alum Creek a small aluminum boat being swamped. The man operating the boat that caused it turned around immediately to come to their aid. Luck had it that they were wearing their PFD's. A fun time can turn tragic within seconds while on the water.....Got to be aware and careful!..........SS

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Allways sad


BUT i boat in more open water and sunday was a pretty normal 20 plus MPH windy day and there was the normal amount of boats that did not belong there


Allmost NOBODY was wearing a PDF and there were way to many legs hanging over the bow rails while underway ,ect


We also have a lot more comercial traffic and they do NOT slow down the barges you have to stay clear of them and there wake

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Tragic event to say the least. Seems something is not right here to me as well. There have been several occasions where I have encountered very large wakes from even larger boats. I guess I'm lucky to have "seen them coming" and been able to react to avoid being swamped by them.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

It seems odd to me also. The father borrowed a life jacket. He survived. Why were not the woman and her daughter wearing a life jacket? The articles did not say they weren't or that he was, just a curious lack of detail if they were.

I could see mishandling the boat to the point that a larger craft's wake could help swamp an 18 footer. Say he was making a tight turn, the boat loaded to one side and the wake hitting at the same time, but the wake would not be the only cause.

Any details about the relationships of the people involved? Any drinking or substance abuse during the time? What were the conditions on the water at the time?

This is a sober reminder that we should always plan for the unexpected and teach our passengers what to do in an emergency.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Man that's horrible.

People need to pay attention to their wakes no matter what size boat their in. Around here there are a lot of canoes and kayaks mixed in with motor-yachts and commercial vessels.

Be careful / Be safe.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

kenmyfam said:

Latest report this morning is that it was a 28ft cruiser (white with a beige stripe) that swamped them.

Click to expand...

Until you posted that, I was wondering if it had been a lake freighter.

How far out into Lake St Clair were they found? Since we've had an extremely cool spring, it wouldn't surprise me if hypothermia wasn't a major factor.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

The family's 16-foot boat, with a 65 horsepower

Neighbours said the family had just got the boat and it had a new radio in it.


Buy all accounts they were all wearing there PDFs and hypothermia was the cause of the deaths


In searching the news there was also another fatal accident on the same lake the day before with a 38' boat hitting a barge in the dark killing 3

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

They are still looking for the boat. It is reported that all were wearing their PFD's. It has also been reported that it was an 18ft Aluminum boat. I still do not know exactly what it was for sure. Just wondering if they were anchored and fishing with vthe anchor tied off the stern end of the boat. That may have caused it to be swamped as it would swing the bow away and any wash could have gone directly over the stern end. after that with the boat being lower the afterwash could have gone straight in as well.
This is still speculation. I will keep posting as more details are available.
Morale is low at Deerbrook Marina right now.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

One more thing.....I bought some flares today to strap to our PFD's
If they maybe had the same thing then someone would have seen them.
To he** with the whistles only.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Photo of the boat they were in at www.am800cklw.com
Anyone know what it is ????

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

Beats me. I pasted the photo into a file and blew it up in a photo editor - the brand name on the side of the boat is so fuzzy that I couldn't read it. The business about it sinking is curious though because I would think that it has enough foam in it to float.

Re: This Is The Marina Where I Dock Our Boat

jay_merrill said:

Beats me. I pasted the photo into a file and blew it up in a photo editor - the brand name on the side of the boat is so fuzzy that I couldn't read it. The business about it sinking is curious though because I would think that it has enough foam in it to float.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. Unless it does not have any for some reason ???